Pacific Rim: The Furies: End of the Line
by Darkpenn
Summary: Human or mechanical, the most powerful weapon is the heart.


**Pacific Rim: The Furies: End of the Line**

_Human or mechanical, the most powerful weapon is the heart._

_[Author's Note: This story takes place three months after the story_ Pacific Rim: The Furies: All for One. _It is the concluding part of the Furies trilogy._]

Eun, Trent and Grace were sitting in a booth in the bar of Uluru Base. They were staring at the table. They still had the smell of a Kaiju in their nostrils. Still had the sound of its roar echoing in their heads.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," said Eun softly.

"Fucking A," said Trent.

"Me too," said Grace. "And you guys have been doing it longer than I have. I've only been in three fights. You've been in … how many is it?"

"Too damn many," said Eun. She picked up her drink – whisky, not beer – and downed it. She signalled to the barman for a re-fill.

"We've done our share," said Grace. "We can quit. Let someone else drive the Furies. We can retire undefeated."

"I see a flaw in this plan," said Trent.

"Which is?"

"There isn't anyone else," said Eun. "No-one else has tested to a useable level."

"What!?" said Grace. "You mean that there's nobody else on the base who can pilot a Fury?"

"No," said Eun. "I mean there's nobody else in the country."

"Fuck me," said Grace.

"On the other hand, it means that we've got jobs for life," said Trent. "However long that might be. I suppose we could just … not go. Not turn up for the next mission. Say that we're busy or something. Say we've come down with a cold, and we've got a note from the doctor."

"Sure, we could do that," said Eun. "Albright will understand. And so will everyone else. I'm sure the Kaijus will be cool with it too. They'll go away until we're ready."

Grace put her head in her hands. "Goddamn," she said. "Goddamn."

Tears began to run down Eun's face. She touched her cheeks, surprised.

"Here is where the old guy is supposed to dispense some timely and important advice," said Trent. He thought about it. "Sorry, I've got nothing," he said.

Eun couldn't help but smile. "Good to know I can count on you," she said.

There was a commotion in the bar. People were starting to rush out. Trent caught a guy as he passed.

"What's up, mate?" he said to him.

"Didn't you hear?" said the guy. "The first Jaeger has arrived."

They ran to the hangar. It was there. Still in pieces from factories all over the country, but there. The construction team had already started assembly work. Looked like it was going to be twice the size of a Fury.

"Thank god," muttered Eun.

Workers were unpacking the crate with the name-plate. _Terror Australis._

* * *

It was the next evening. Eun was sitting on the foot of _Thunderstruck_, watching the huge jigsaw that was _Terror Australis _slowly come together. She had a bottle of whisky in her hand. Half of it was gone. _But not enough_, she said to herself.

She patted the massive metal foot. "Looks like we're going to be out of a job soon, big fella," she said. "Which is not a bad thing."

She realised that the metal was deeply scratched and worn. In fact, _Thunderstruck's_ exterior was a patchwork of repairs and old wounds. She saw that Sao had finished the upgrades on the knife; it now extended twice as long as before. Aside from that, the Fury looked like it was ready to quit. Or fall apart, whichever happened first. Like her. She put her hand on the metal skin.

"We've done our job, and then some," she said. "So here's to us." She poured a generous slug of whisky over the robot foot. And then had some more herself.

"Is this a private party?" said a voice. "Or can anyone get some of that?"

Eun handed the bottle to Albright. She took a shot and handed the bottle back. With an effort, she eased herself down next to Eun.

"Mixed feelings?" said Albright.

"If the Jaeger means that we don't have to go up against any more Kaiju, then certainly not," said Eun. "Tell the truth, I don't think my large friend here can take much more."

"And neither can you, I know," said Albright. "If there was an alternative, I would have pulled you out months ago. Trent too. And Grace soon. But … "

Eun sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said. "But once _Terror Australis_ is up and running, it won't be an issue. Who's going to be driving it, anyway?"

"A pair of sisters from Tasmania, apparently. They're arriving next week."

"Good luck to them. They're going to need it, even if the Jaeger is a much bigger platform than the Fury."

"I was hoping that you might be able to give them some pointers. Act as a mentor. After all, the total number of people with field experience in this country is three. And you're the team leader."

"I am? Who says?"

"Trent and Grace. And me."

"Huh."

"You might not know it, but you're a bit of a legend. You know what they call you three in other countries? The Southern Line. I was talking to one of my American counterparts a few days ago, and he said that the reason they were seeing a lot of Kaijus there was because they were afraid to come south. Knew they get their arses kicked, he said. They prefer to face the new American Jaegers than the Aussies. You can take that as a compliment."

"Huh," said Eun again. "And I'm not even Australian."

"It's a state of mind, not a piece of paper," said Albright. "Which reminds me, I brought you something." She handed Eun a package.

Eun unwrapped it. It was a new pair of overalls. On the breast, there was a line of Kaiju icons, representing Eun's number of victories. On the shoulder, there was a patch. It was an Australian flag.

She stared at it for a long time. Then, softly, slowly, because of everything that had been lost and everything that had been gained, she began to cry.

* * *

**Part II**

It was a week later. The ceremony for the commissioning of the _Terror Australis_ was a big affair, with a pack of dignitaries and a media scrum visiting Uluru Base. The sisters, Dorothy and Beatrice, were to arrive at the same time.

Eun, Trent and Grace were standing in a line in the hangar with various other people from Uluru Base, as the Prime Minister and the sisters moved along it, shaking hands.

The sisters were youngish women. They looked pretty tough, as if they had been nailed together from chunks of Tasmanian hardwood. _Good_, thought Eun.

Dorothy and Beatrice came up to them.

"Wow," said one of them, as they shook hands. "The Southern Line. You guys are – "

" – mean motherfuckers," said the other.

"From Tasmanians, that's a compliment," whispered Trent to Eun.

The Prime Minister reached them. He shook Trent's hand. "Hello again, Jerry," he said.

"Hello, Keith," said Trent. "Let me introduce two of the bravest people on the planet – "

A siren went.

"What's that?" said the Prime Minister.

"Bad news," said Eun. She, Trent and Grace started for the helicopter pads. The Prime Minister and his coterie followed.

"Is it a Kaiju?" said the PM. "If it is, I want to come. I want to see one. For real."

"No you don't," said Grace.

"But – "

Trent stopped and turned to the Prime Minister. "Keith," he said. "Do you know how to pilot a Fury?"

"No, of course not."

"Then shut the fuck up and get out of our way."

"Hey!" said one of the PM's advisers. "You can't say that to the leader of the country!"

"I'll probably be dead in a couple of hours," said Trent. "So I can say whatever I fucking want." Then he ran after Eun and Grace.

"Heh," said Grace, when he caught up. "Jerry. Your first name is Jerry. Heh."

"Who would have guessed?" said Eun, as they boarded the chopper.

Trent smiled. "You guys are assholes, you know," he said.

"Sure we are … Jerry," said Eun.

Summers was already on board, and was speaking on her phone to someone. She kept saying: "Are you sure? Are you sure?"

Albright climbed on board. She was carrying a folder of papers, fresh off the printer. The helicopter took off, turning west. The transport choppers were already starting to lift the three Furies out of the hangar.

"Damn, another day or two and _Terror Australis_ would have been ready," muttered Grace.

"Where are we going?" said Eun. "Where's the landfall point?"

Summers pointed on a map.

"Western Australia," she said.

The three pilots started.

"It's not even the Pacific," said Grace.

"Naughty Kaiju," said Trent. "Very bad, not knowing your geography."

"So they're spreading," said Eun. "We knew it would probably happen one day. Here it is. We deal."

She looked more closely at the map. The projected landfall point was a few kilometres north of Perth. Pre-Breach, Perth had been one of Australia's smaller cities. Now it was one of the largest, swollen by the flood of refugees from Asia and elsewhere. On the map, the situation was clear: there wasn't anywhere the population could be evacuated to. Here was where you ran out of continent, at the end of a very long train line.

"So now, we fight for our own," said Trent.

"We do," said Eun.

They looked at her.

"We do," she repeated.

"There's something else," said Albright. "This is a big one. Very big. The Americans are calling it a Category Two." She passed around some satellite images of the Kaiju at sea. The creature was deep under water, a huge, dark shadow. And there was a massive wake on the surface.

"Oh," said Grace. "Hey, is it too late to quit this job?"

"Sorry," said Eun.

"Damn," said Grace.

"Codename Scimitar," said Albright.

The three pilots exchanged glances.

Eun looked down at her hands. She realised they were shaking.

They flew on.

* * *

The three Furies were standing on a wide beach, looking north. _Back in Black_ was in the centre position.

The Kaiju was slowly coming towards them. Strolling pace.

"No hurry, ready when you are, we really have nothing better to do," muttered Trent.

Grace yawned. "And to think we rushed to get here," she said. "I would have had time to take a selfie with Jerry's friend the Prime Minister."

Eun smiled. At least her hands had stopped shaking. She wondered if the techs had noticed when they were strapping her in.

"Maybe she's a little shy about meeting us," said Trent. "I hear there was a memo that went around, telling them how badass we are."

As the Kaiju came closer, they saw why it was called Scimitar. There were huge, curved blades of bone protruding from its wrists.

"Or maybe it's just quietly, casually confident," said Eun.

"Yeah, maybe," said Grace.

And it looked markedly bigger – not much taller but considerably heavier – than the Kaijus they had seen so far. Bigger. Tougher. Nastier.

"Category Two, eh?" said Trent. "How many categories do you think there are?"

"Hopefully, two," said Eun.

Scimitar was almost in range of their machine guns. It stopped. As if to consider them.

"Advance," said Eun.

The three Furies moved forward. They spread out a little, so they might be able to dodge the bone-blades.

They were in range now. Eun and Trent went to combat mode and hefted their guns. They fired, a long burst.

Perhaps thirty bullets hit the Kaiju. Only a quarter of them pierced the exoskeleton armour.

"Well, that's not good," said Trent. He and Eun switched out of combat mode, so the batteries could recharge.

The Kaiju shook itself.

"It's almost as if it was testing us," said Eun. "Testing our guns."

"Which were not outstandingly effective," said Trent.

"We'll have to get closer," said Eun.

They waited until the batteries of _Thunderstruck_ and _Hell's Bells_ were fully recharged. Now, when they went to combat mode again, they would have 4.23.

"Advance," said Eun again. "But be prepared for anything. It's a bar fight, remember, not a boxing match."

They advanced, and the Kaiju began to come forward. It began to pick up speed.

"Grace, fall back a bit," said Eun. "Trent, you and I move out. We need to attack from several sides at once."

Scimitar was charging at _Back in Black_ now.

"Go combat and close in," said Eun.

They did. But suddenly the Kaiju veered away, and swung towards _Thunderstruck_.

Eun fired. At this range, the bullets smashed through the creature's armour, but there was little obvious effect.

Eun braced herself, as the Kaiju slammed into her. She managed to keep her footing but she was being pushed back, sliding across the sand.

_Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_ ran forward, weapons up. But before they could fire Scimitar turned and swung the bone-blades. Both Furies were hit, and staggered backwards.

But now the Kaiju had its back to _Thunderstruck_.

And Eun saw something. Something critical. In a second, she had extended her knife and stabbed out. The Kaiju gave a howl, and there was a gush of blood.

"There's no armour under its arms!" she shouted into the radio. "When it uses its blades, it's vulnerable!"

_Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black _had both taken damage from the blade hit but they were still on their feet.

Eun slashed at the Kaiju again, slicing into its neck. It turned towards her, and raised one of the blades to strike.

Grace aimed her shotgun and fired, hitting the Kaiju under its arm. It howled again, and turned towards _Back in Black_. Grace fell back a few steps.

And now _Hell's Bells_ was behind it. Trent angled for a shot, and, on one knee, fired a burst into the Kaiju's soft spot. The Kaiju turned towards _Hell's Bells_. And then _Thunderstruck_ and _Back in Black _attacked from behind.

The Kaiju turned again, but it was in a defensive posture now, keeping its arms down to protect its vulnerable areas. It was bleeding from several wounds.

_We're wearing it down but we're running out of time_, thought Eun. She checked the clock. Less than two minutes of power left.

"Trent!" she shouted into the radio. "If I can get it to lift its arms, can you grab them and hold them up long enough for Grace to get a close shot?"

"I … I don't know," said Trent. "Maybe … for a few seconds."

"Then get ready."

Eun ran forward, firing at the Kaiju's chest. She was standing directly in front of it now. A clear target. Too tempting to resist.

And the Kaiju couldn't resist. It raised its arms –

And Trent grabbed them, pinning them in position. Eun could hear him groaning with the strain.

Grace rammed the shotgun into the exposed flesh of the Kaiju's armpit and fired. Again and again. It howled and roared.

Then it broke free from _Hell's Bells_, and slashed out at _Thunderstruck_. The bone-blade smashed into the Fury with full force.

Inside the cockpit, Eun felt the concussion of the strike. She heard _Thunderstruck's_ metal frame start to break.

_Thunderstruck_ went down with a crash, falling onto its side as one leg gave way. In the cockpit, something came loose in a shower of sparks and whacked into the side of Eun's head. There was a gush of hot, sticky blood.

On instinct, she switched out of combat mode. On one of the monitors, she could see the Kaiju tottering as _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_ stabbed it, again and again. Trent managed to get behind it, and reached around its shoulder. He stabbed his knife into the Kaiju's neck and hacked it across the creature's throat. The blade broke in the armour but blood began to pour from the wound.

It staggered, staggered … and then fell. It gave a final massive twitch, and then was still.

Eun glanced at the clock. Twenty-seven seconds left.

"Switch out of combat mode," she said into the radio.

Trent and Grace did. The recharge cycle began.

"Are you alright, Eun?" said Trent. "You don't sound so good."

"I'll live, but I don't know if _Thunderstruck_ can be stuck back together. Not enough duct tape in the world."

She took off the radio headset and managed to get out of the straps. She climbed up the hatchway, opened the hatch, and clambered out. Standing on the robot's enormous forehead, she saw the helicopter with Albright and the others approaching. She turned towards _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_. She waved. _Hell's Bells_ lifted its arm in salute.

"How about that," said Eun to herself.

And then another Kaiju came leaping out of the sea and onto the beach. It howled, and swung at the helicopter. It was only a glancing blow, but it was enough to send it spiralling earthwards, trailing smoke.

With huge fists, the Kaiju began to punch at _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_. It was roaring, enraged. It didn't just want to defeat the Furies. It wanted to tear them apart.

Damaged, low on ammunition, and caught by surprise, Trent and Grace fell back, trying to parry the blows. But the Kaiju was much, much stronger, and faster, and it had a barbed tail that whipped at them.

Eun scrambled through the hatch and into _Thunderstruck_'s cockpit. She strapped herself in and put on the headset. She hit buttons and switches. Emergency re-start.

She tried to get the Fury to move. From somewhere, there was the groan of metal on metal. Some of the monitors came back online.

"Come on, big fella," she said. "You can do it."

It moved. Slowly, painfully, _Thunderstruck_ lifted itself off the ground. It got to one knee.

"Just a little more, buddy," she said. "A little more." She hauled against the weight of the damaged limbs, the broken connections. She shouted with the effort.

And then _Thunderstruck_ was on its feet. Its right leg was severely damaged, losing hydraulic fluid and coolant, the cables hanging on by threads. Large chunks of its armour had been ripped away, and dozens of servos were inoperable. But the Fury was up. And rolling.

It limped forward, towards the Kaiju. Eun could see that _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black _were both close to going down.

She went to combat mode. She raised the machine gun. Seven bullets left.

She was getting close now, and the Kaiju did not appear to have seen her.

_Boomboomboom –_ . All she had. The bullets smashed into the Kaiju, and there were spurts of blood.

The Kaiju turned towards her. Then it looked back at _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_, as if it was trying to decide whether to finish them or face this new threat.

Eun hit the control that ejected the spent gun. She extended the knife. She lifted her arms into the air, and activated the external loudspeaker.

"Let's finish this, fucker!" she shouted. "Come on! _COME ON!_"

The Kaiju gave a howl.

It braced itself, and then came charging forward.

_Thunderstruck_ charged as well.

The ground shook as the two crashed together.

The Kaiju was trying to wrap its huge arms around the Fury, intending to squeeze it into ruin. But Eun got her right hand free and stabbed at the Kaiju's face.

And the blade found the Kaiju's eye. There was a gush of blue liquid.

The Kaiju howled in pain, and tore itself away from the Fury.

Eun glanced at the clock. Thirty-eight seconds of power left.

She charged again, punching and stabbing. It pushed her back.

And then _Hell's Bells_ and _Back in Black_ came in from the side, slamming into the Kaiju. Trent and Grace were so close now they could put their guns to the Kaiju's forehead. They fired together. Everything.

But as it fell, the Kaiju's tail slashed out. It rammed into the front of _Back in Black_, smashing through the window.

In her headset, Eun heard Grace scream.

_Oh no …_

The Kaiju was dead. As _Back in Black_ fell, _Thunderstruck's_ mighty heart gave out, and it crashed to the ground.

Eun clambered out of the hatch and to the ground. She ran to _Back in Black_. By the time she reached it, Trent was pulling Grace from the hatch. She was bleeding heavily. Broken. They got her to the ground, and knelt beside her.

She grasped their hands. "Not enough time for a long speech, I guess," she gasped.

"No, probably not," said Eun.

"Two things, then," she said. "One. Look after Herman."

"Yeah, alright," said Eun. "And what's Two?"

She looked up at them. "Thanks for loving me, guys," she said. Then her eyes closed.

"Our pleasure," said Trent.

* * *

**Coda**

"I guess since you're the new Base Commander, I'm fired," said Summers.

Eun sighed. "I have to say that I loathe you with a special passion, but I guess I can deal with it," she said. She looked around at the office. "You know, I think I'll miss that old bitch. Is Sao going to be alright?"

"Yes, so I understand," said Summers. "Burns and broken bones from the crash, but he says he'll be back in the hangar by the time the second Jaeger, _Golden Mile_, arrives for assembly. Which is next month, I think. Commander, can I ask you something?"

"I suppose so."

"Do you … do you think we will win? Do you think we will ever win?"

Eun considered. "Not tomorrow," she said. "Or the next day, or next year, or the year after that. But I've seen what people can do when they fight with their hearts. So, yeah, we will win. Eventually. One day."

END


End file.
